6/2/12 I only had a few days back in Massachusetts and yet it was amazing the parallels that existed here with my best friend and her husband, Steve, and me and mine…minus the gay issue.

Unfortunately Fiona had to work most of the weekend so that left time for me and her husband to hang out. That was fine with me as he was nearly as close a friend as she was. This time though, he offered me insight into what my husband was feeling. And I believe I gave him a little glimpse into what Fiona was feeling. What a wild world we live in!

Without me having to share the details of what was going on between me and my husband, Steve knew my husband and I had issues in our marriage. He was sharing his frustration with Fiona which sounded so similar. Just hearing his perception of it was really helpful to me understanding a bit more about my husband’s perception of our situation.

Later that afternoon I got to be the birthday party surprise diversion. We told Fiona we were going out with the neighbors to a restaurant she had been dying to go to. Of course I didn’t have any clothes with me to fit that bill. So Fiona’s dream came true – she got to take me shopping. It’s really funny what opposite people her and I are. She loves shopping, I dread it. She loves getting all primped and pretty, I may brush my hair (if it’s convenient). She’s a drama queen, I’m really easy-going. She’s a hair stylist, I’m a business person. She’ll wear heels, I’ll ask if my sneakers can pass for where we’re going. Somehow these opposites work really well for us as we’ve been best friends since 1991.

I digress. Poor Fiona has worked all day on her feet and now has to go shopping with me. She’s amazing, she gets reenergized while shopping since she’s so excited to be finding me sexy outfits. Little does she know, I’ll probably never wear them but she’s having fun…and it’s killing the required time we need to stay out of the house. I’m finally done shopping and can’t take any more; besides my credit card is smoking from the workout. I then twist her arm and convince her we have time for a drink at a nearby bar. We have a great conversation and a heart to heart about the problems we’re both enduring. I stop short of telling her about my issues over my sexuality since we only have 15 minutes left. I so wished we lived closer to one another so we could have these heart to hearts more often. But at this moment the texts from her home are saying they are ready for the surprise party. So off we go.

We got her again with the surprise party. She was so excited but a bit disappointed we weren’t going to her restaurant. I was “forced” to tell her new friends the story of her famous Eiffel Tower incident. A story I never get tired telling. As it goes, we had gone to France a few months before she was married and she got so sick while she was there (we joke it was a PARIS-ite). The first night there she insisted I take her out for something to eat (she didn’t speak a lick of French) and she chooses an American restaurant and orders a cheeseburger. An overseas traveler she is not. The next day we tried to go to the Eiffel Tower, we had it in our sights but she suddenly needed a bathroom… she had diarrhea. We immediately went back to the hotel where she then stayed for 5 days drinking Diet Coke. On the last day she finally felt well enough to try again. This time we made it to the Eiffel Tower but while we were in the elevator on our way up, totally packed in like sardines, she looks at me with a panicked, flush face and flings her mane of red hair sprayed hair onto me, grabs me and drops to the floor. My sister was video taping the entire incident and when she realized what has happened, she zooms the camera on her partner. Her partner’s expression is priceless. She’s all happy and looking out at the beautiful view, making silly faces, then she realizes what happens, looks down with a very concerned, scared face at the floor with Fiona on it. She then looks back at the camera in a panic. It was NOT funny then, but now when anyone sees that video, it is guaranteed hysterics. One of those things she will never live down.

That night I had once again had little a too much to drink but thankfully I had no where to be in the morning and no 5 year old wanting to know where his breakfast was. So I watched the recommended show from Mary, “Lip Service” on my iPad until 3am. I was hooked.